The question was di­rected at Cam Newton after his MVP perform­ance in the SEC Champi­onship Game, but Gene Chizik intercepted it.

The Auburn coach didn't answer the question him­self, nor did he allow his quarterback to address it.

"We're going to stay away from those questions right now and stay football-re­lated, please," Chizik said, "with all due respect."

Three days later, that question still hasn't been answered. With all due re­spect, it needs to be re­peated.

Will Cecil Newton be allowed to attend the Heisman Trophy announcement Saturday night in New York City?

It's an important question, and it requires a simple, no-nonsense answer.

No. Of course not. Not after what he's done.

No one can prevent him from traveling to the Big Apple and sharing in his son's joy afterward back at the hotel, but there's no way Cecil Newton should be allowed in the room when they announce that Cam Newton is the winner of the 76th Heisman Trophy.

Auburn, the SEC and the NCAA drew a line between the father and the son with last week's ruling on Cam Newton's eligibility. As much as possible, they should keep Cecil Newton on the other side of that line.

His presence at the Heisman or the BCS Championship Game would do more than cause a distraction. It would make a mockery of the NCAA ruling.

There's no doubt that Cam Newton will win the Heisman. All the ballots are now in, and his victory is as certain as Mark Ingram's was uncertain a year ago.

The Alabama running back won in the closest vote in Heisman history. The Auburn quarterback could win in the biggest landslide.

I put Newton No. 1 on my ballot based on his performance on the field. If other voters did the same, he'd be a unanimous winner.

With the voting done, even more attention will turn to the traveling party. There's simply no way that Auburn can allow Cecil Newton to join that party.

Not after the NCAA ruled that he and Kenny Rogers "worked together to actively market" Cam Newton to Mississippi State "in a pay-for-play scenario."

Not after SEC Commissioner Mike Slive called the actions of the co-conspirators "unacceptable" and said their conduct "has no place in intercollegiate athletics."

Their conduct forced Auburn to declare Cam Newton ineligible and ask the NCAA to reinstate him. It also put Newton's ability to lead Auburn to the SEC championship and the BCS Championship Game and to win the Heisman in jeopardy.

As punishment, Mississippi State disassociated Rogers, a former player, and Auburn agreed to limit Cecil Newton's "access . . . to the athletics program."

We understand disassociation from the NCAA infractions case against Alabama involving Albert Means. NCAA bylaw 19.5.2.6 says, if you're disassociated, you can't donate money to the program or enjoy any benefit or privilege not available to the general public.

One prohibition would be losing your privileges as part of a preferred ticket program. A school can take other actions as it sees fit and the law allows.

But what does limiting Cecil Newton's access to Auburn football mean? Was he not allowed to use one of the tickets that players were allotted for family members at the SEC Championship Game?

If he was in the Georgia Dome, he wasn't sitting with his wife and Cam's mother, Jackie, when the CBS cameras focused on her. Haven't seen a report yet that suggested Cecil Newton was anywhere in the building.

Will he also be absent from the BCS Championship Game? And what about the Heisman ceremony? If he is missing, will it be by choice or command?

An Auburn official said the specifics are a matter between Newton and AD Jay Jacobs, but it would benefit Auburn, the SEC and the NCAA to spell out those restrictions. Otherwise, limited access might not sound like much of a punishment.

Some people will continue to believe that he, his son and his son's school got off light. But if you think it wouldn't hurt Cecil Newton to miss the Heisman announcement in person, you're not a father.

Ask Mark Ingram Sr. how it felt to miss his son's shining moment last year. The elder Ingram was in jail -- and still is -- for money laundering and bank fraud.

Cecil Newton may spend the rest of his son's college career locked out rather than locked up. If he does, he'll have no one to blame but himself.